About HSBC Sharedealing - InvestDirect

Launched in the UK in May 2001, Merrill Lynch HSBC provided a high-quality direct investing and banking service to private investors although Merrill Lynch pulled out of its wealth management joint venture with HSBC in 2002 and therefore quashed any speculation of America's largest stockbroker and Europe's largest bank heading for a mega-merger.

The Merrill Lynch name, Merrill Lynch HSBC - MLHSBC stayed part of the venture's brand for two years and continued to provide its investment research. At the present there is InvestDirect.

InvestDirect and InvestDirect Plus are HSBC Banks online share dealing service and allows buying and selling of shares through market leading research tools. In order to qualify you need an existing HSBC Bank Account and to be registered for Internet Banking through the HSBC Online Bank Account.

With InvestDirect / InvestDirect Plus you may deal in UK, US and some further international equities, Gilts, most UK ETF's and funds - unit trusts plus a selection of HSBC Fund of Funds and you may Use the interactive tools within InvestDirect and InvestDirect Plus to help make more informed decision - and you may borrow against your existing portfolio (InvestDirect Plus).

InvestDirect formed out of Merrill Lynch HSBC was originally the joint venture between Merrill Lynch, the pre-eminent American investment bank, and HSBC, the global financial services group. They used the skill and resources of both companies to create a product that won the Most Consumer-Friendly Online Broker award at the Investor's Week Online Finance Awards in 2001.

In July 2002, Merrill Lynch HSBC became 100% owned by HSBC, and became a full member of the HSBC Group.

The HSBC bank account and InvestDirect Investment and Banking Portfolio (IBP) allows you the freedom to:

Hold UK and US equities within one integrated investment account.

Keep a close watch on your portfolio by jumping straight from your "Share Holdings" screen to "News, Research and Quotes" screen.

Transfer your existing shares to Merrill Lynch HSBC.

In addition, you can buy and sell shares online whenever the markets are open or stack orders out of hours with the following exchanges:

London Stock Exchange including Alternative Investment Market (AIM).

New York Stock Exchange. AMEX incl Nasdaq.

Most European Exchanges.

Things to watch for in choosing a stock broker

Dealing costs
The actual cost of placing an individual buy/sell order. There is stamp duty also at the prevailing rate but only on buys. Allways check that cheap dealing offers dont have high admin charges.

Admin charges
Normally charged quarterly. When calculating real cost look at number of deals likely per year and then add in this admin cost.

Transfer costs
Check costs to transfer in and out shares, share certificates and other charges must also be considered when evaluating costs.

Online or telephone dealing
Nearly all brokers now offer some form of Online dealing with telephone as optional back-up. Some Online systems have some human interface and others are 100% automated.

Holding share certificates
Outside of accounts avoids admin charges. Ok if you are likely to be a long term share holder (years not months).

Broker support
How much info can the broker offer you? Will he offer advice and recommendations or is his service completely without support.